Hundreds of Chinese instructors who were teaching the Chinese language at Confucius Institutes across Pakistan have returned to China after being forced to do so by the Chinese government.
The news came only weeks after a female suicide bomber detonated her device outside a Confucius Institute vehicle at Karachi University, killing four people, including three Chinese language professors.
When a white Hiace van carrying Chinese nationals who were members of the institute’s faculty came into her range, the attacker blew herself up at the Confucius Institute’s gate.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani students are enrolled in Confucius Institutes across the country. Their capacity to acquire the Chinese language will be hampered by a scarcity of native Chinese language instructors.
According to reports, the departure of Chinese language instructors will not result in the closure of Confucius Institutes. Chinese instructors of Pakistani origin have been asked to teach students the Chinese language until native Chinese instructors return.
The Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) operates Confucius Institutes around the world in collaboration with the Chinese government.
Confucius Institutes’ primary goal is to promote the Chinese language and culture internationally while also enhancing people-to-people collaboration between Chinese people and citizens of other countries.
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